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Ontogeny and Phylogeny

Stephen Jay Gould

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Description:"Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny" was Haeckel's mistaken answer to the most vexing question of 19th-century biology; what's the relationship between individual development (ontogeny) & the evolution of species & lineages (phylogeny)? In this, the 1st major book on the subject in 50 years, Gould documents the history of the recapitulation idea from its appearance among the pre-Socratics to its fall in the early 20th century. He explores recapitulation as an idea that intrigued politicians & theologians as well as scientists. He shows that Haeckel's hypothesis--that human fetuses with gill slits are, literally, tiny fish, exact replicas of their water-breathing ancestors--had an influence that extended beyond biology into education, criminology, psychology (Freud & Jung were recapitulationists) & racism. The theory of recapitulation, finally collapsed not from the weight of contrary data, but because Mendelian genetics rendered it untenable. Turning to modern concepts, he demonstrates that, even tho the whole subject of parallels between ontogeny & phylogeny fell into disrepute, it's still one of the great themes of evolutionary biology. Heterochrony--changes in developmental timing, producing parallels between ontogeny & phylogeny--is shown to be crucial to an understanding of gene regulation, the key to any rapprochement between molecular & evolutionary biology. The primary evolutionary value of heterochrony may lie in immediate ecological advantages for slow or rapid maturation, rather than in long-term changes of form, as all previous theories proclaimed. Neoteny--the opposite of recapitulation--is shown to be the most important determinant of human evolution. We have evolved by retaining the juvenile characters of our ancestors & have achieved both behavioral flexibility & our characteristic morphology thereby (e.g., large brains by prolonged retention of rapid fetal growth rates). He concludes there may be nothing new under the sun, but permutation of the old within complex systems can do wonders. As biologists, we deal directly with the kind of material complexity that confers an unbounded potential upon simple, continuous changes in underlying processes. This is the chief joy of our science.We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with Ontogeny and Phylogeny. To get started finding Ontogeny and Phylogeny, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
Our library is the biggest of these that have literally hundreds of thousands of different products represented.

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ISBN: 0674263960

Description: "Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny" was Haeckel's mistaken answer to the most vexing question of 19th-century biology; what's the relationship between individual development (ontogeny) & the evolution of species & lineages (phylogeny)? In this, the 1st major book on the subject in 50 years, Gould documents the history of the recapitulation idea from its appearance among the pre-Socratics to its fall in the early 20th century. He explores recapitulation as an idea that intrigued politicians & theologians as well as scientists. He shows that Haeckel's hypothesis--that human fetuses with gill slits are, literally, tiny fish, exact replicas of their water-breathing ancestors--had an influence that extended beyond biology into education, criminology, psychology (Freud & Jung were recapitulationists) & racism. The theory of recapitulation, finally collapsed not from the weight of contrary data, but because Mendelian genetics rendered it untenable. Turning to modern concepts, he demonstrates that, even tho the whole subject of parallels between ontogeny & phylogeny fell into disrepute, it's still one of the great themes of evolutionary biology. Heterochrony--changes in developmental timing, producing parallels between ontogeny & phylogeny--is shown to be crucial to an understanding of gene regulation, the key to any rapprochement between molecular & evolutionary biology. The primary evolutionary value of heterochrony may lie in immediate ecological advantages for slow or rapid maturation, rather than in long-term changes of form, as all previous theories proclaimed. Neoteny--the opposite of recapitulation--is shown to be the most important determinant of human evolution. We have evolved by retaining the juvenile characters of our ancestors & have achieved both behavioral flexibility & our characteristic morphology thereby (e.g., large brains by prolonged retention of rapid fetal growth rates). He concludes there may be nothing new under the sun, but permutation of the old within complex systems can do wonders. As biologists, we deal directly with the kind of material complexity that confers an unbounded potential upon simple, continuous changes in underlying processes. This is the chief joy of our science.We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with Ontogeny and Phylogeny. To get started finding Ontogeny and Phylogeny, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
Our library is the biggest of these that have literally hundreds of thousands of different products represented.

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Ontogeny and Phylogeny

Ontogeny and Phylogeny

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